Fabricated structure and method of making



Patented Oct. 27, 1936 FABRICATED STRUCTURE METHOD F MAKING Herbert G.lennison, B

ridgeport, Conn, assignor to The American Brass Company, Waterbury,

Conn., a corporation of Connecticut No Drawing. Original applicationOctober 21,

1931, Serial No.

570,156, now Patent No.

2,049,449, dated August 4, 1936. Divided and this application May 6Claims.

This invention relates to a structure made from parts fabricated from awrought or worked alloy which is particularly adapted for autogenouswelding, and to the method of making such a structure. This alloy may beused for making various wrought or worked shapes either regular orirregular, such as extruded, rolled, drawn, forged or pressed shapes astubes either rectangular, irregular or round, large hollow cylinders,

10 sheets for tanks either open or closed, shapes for architectural workas moldings, window frames in fabricating various structures, and it iscommon to make the joints by soldering with silver or similar solderwhich is expensive, or by riveting, as it has been impossible to makesatisfactor welds where the articles are made of coppe.. Welded jointsare desirable as the soldered and riveted joints are not nearly assightly or as strong as would be a satisfactory welded joint, and alsothey are more apt to deteriorate in use.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an alloy to takethe place of the usual copper shapes, which when wrought and worked intothe various shapes can be readily autogenously welded at the joints soas to do away with the necessity of soldering or riveting, and muchbetter joints can be produced and a new and better structure result.

I have found that by the addition of sufflcient amounts of siliconandiron to copper an alloy is produced which can be readily wrought orworked into various shapes which can be readily joined by autogenouswelding. It is particularly adapted for such shapes as tubesrectangular, round or irregular, hollow cylinders, rolled sheets formaking tanks either open or closed, and to be extruded, rolled, drawn orpressed into other shapes, such as are adapted for building,architectural and similar uses where it is desirable to make the jointsby autogenous welding. I have found that by the addition of this siliconand iron to the copper the welding properties of the worked or wroughtmetal are greatly increased, that autogenous welds can be made, that thewelds are dense and homogeneous, and when the weld is ground off andpolished it is practically indistin- Copper elements or shapes arecommonly used 13, 1936, Serial No. 79,553

(Cl. 1131ll2) guishable from the base metal. Also that the strength ofthe weld is practically the same as that of the base metal. Byautogenous welding I mean welding in which the metal of the weld is ofsubstantially the same constituency or composition as the base metal ofthe members welded together whether or not additional metal is addedfrom a welding or filler rod, and Whether the welding is done with a gasor blow torch, by electric are, or other source of heat.

The preferred'alloy comprises approximately 3.5 percent silicon, iron invarious amounts up to about 3 percent and the balance copper, and I havefound that wrought. or worked members or elements made from this alloycan be readily welded autogenously, and that the welds are strong, denseand uniform. I have also found that the alloy can be readily worked orwrought, such as hot rolled or extruded into irregular and regularshapes, and can also be cold rolled or drawn into various shapes. Thematerial can be used for a large number of purposes, such as tubes ofvarious shapes rectangular, irregular and round, and also large hollowcylinders, tanks either open or closed, and can be worked into theshapes and members for use where copper is now commonly used, such asarchitectural purposes for making door fronts, building fronts, windowframes, moldings and similar work. It has been found that this worked orwrought alloy is particularly adapted for these and other purposes whereit is desired that the joints be made by autogenous welding instead ofsoldering, brazing or riveting.

It has been found that when this copper-siliconiron alloy has beenworked, the welding properties are greatly increased over that ofcopper. The weld has a tensile strength almost equal to that of the basemetal. The weld is'also very sound and homogeneous, and the metal weldsreadily so that the joints can be easily and readily made. After theweld has been made, ground and v polished it ispractically impossible todetect it.-

This wrought metal can be used where worked copper is now generallyemployed and the joints made by soldering or riveting due to thedifiiculty of making satisfactory welded joints, and thiscopper-silicon-iron wrought alloy is a great improvement over the copperfor these purposes because the joints can be readily made by autogenousWelding. The weld is strong and homogeneous and after the weld has beenmade, ground, and polished it is practically impossible to detect it, sothat the joined members are practically the same as if 'made in onepiece. This produces a new and improved fabricated structure which hasincreased strength, better appearance and is much more satisfactory thanthe old structures.

Although a worked or wrought copper-siliconiron alloy havingapproximately the above noted proportions of silicon has proven verysatisfactory as having improved properties for autogenous welding, I amnot limited thereto as the proportion of the silicon may be variedconsiderably without losing this adaptability for autogenous welding.The amount of silicon is preferably below 6 percent and above 2 percent,but may vary from about 0.35 percent to about 10. percent, a siliconcontent of approximately 3.5 percent having been found verysatisfactory.

The iron adds to the strength of the material and tends to harden it,depending on the amount used.

In short this alloy when worked or wrought makes a strong, dense,homogeneous and very satisfactory autogenous weld. It also welds easilyand therefore members formed of this wrought metal can be very readilyand satisfactorily joined by autogenous welding either in the shop or onthe job.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. A fabricated structure comprising a plurality of members composed ofan alloy of from 0.35% to 10% silicon, iron in appreciable amount and upto 3% and balance copper worked into shaped members, and welded togetherto form the structure, the metal of the welds being of substantially thesame constituency as the base metal of the welded members.

2. A fabricated structure comprising a plurality of members composed ofan alloy of from 2% to 6% silicon, iron in appreciable amount and up to3% and balance copper worked into shaped members, and welded together toform the structure, the metal of the welds being of substantially thesame constituency as the base metal of the welded members.

3. A fabricated structure comprising a plurality of members composed ofan alloy of about 3.5% silicon, iron in appreciable amount and up to 3%and balance copper worked into shaped members, and welded together toform the structure, the metal of the welds being of substantially thesame constituency as the base metal of the welded members.

4. A method of making a fabricated structure comprising working an alloycomposed of from 0.35% to 10% silicon, iron in appreciable amount and upto 3% and balance copper, and forming the worked alloy into shapedmembers, placing the members adjacent each other, and welding theadjacent members together by autogenous welding of the adjacent surfacesso that the metal of the welds is of substantially the same constituencyas the base metal of the welded members. v

5. A method of making a fabricated structure comprising working an alloycomposed of from 2% to 6% silicon, iron in appreciable amount and up to3% and balance copper, and forming the worked alloy into shaped members,placing the members adjacent each other, and welding the adjacentmembers together by autogenous welding of the adjacent surfaces so thatthe metal of the welds is of substantially the same constituency as thebase metal of the welded members.

6. A method of making a fabricated structure comprising working an alloycomposed of about 3.5% silicon, iron in appreciable amount and up to 3%and balance copper, and forming the worked alloy into shaped members,placing the members adjacent each other, and welding the adjacentmembers together by autogenous welding of the adjacent surfaces so thatthe metal of the welds is of substantially the same constituency as thebase metal of the welded members.

HERBERT C. JENNISON.

